branding

The day finally arrived. The excitement was in the air. Breakfast burritos were in the bellies. (I would know this since I made them.) Hats were on. Horses were saddles. Cattle were bawling, kids were bawling too, and we all decided to get to it.

LET'S BRAND BOYS!

OLD COWBOYS NEVER DIE!


Dale Willis Sr.

Dale Willis Sr. branding.



All the cowboys ready and waiting for the action. "Bring in the next one."



Calvin Amy getting ready to brand.



Run, Nate, Run. Help the boys out a bit.



Trujillo Amy got the job of cutting the calves.



Dale Willis putting a loop on one leg.



"Drag that calf in Dale." Dale is our#1 roper. He is pretty good! I think he really enjoys it too.



I liked this picture because it shows the intensity of the moment. If you are not paying attention, well even if you are, you can easily get run over. Pay attention and get the job done.



Ok, so do I not have the sexiest husband in the world!! Don't argue, you know that I do. He is seriously like The Man from Snowy River here.



Phil and Dallin are posing for the picture. Two lovely gents.



Well since I am taking this picture I kinda cut myself out, but I really wanted one of Ace and I. Darlin and I did wonders running around like crazy in the branding pen taking pictures. The Moby saved the day.



Marlena, Angela, Charlotte, Nathan, and Abe watching the action from the tailgate.



Tammy enjoyed watching from the fence. She rode in the morning and helped bring in the cattle.



Buster Green taking his job serious.



The kids loved eating the "Oh so sanitary," salt blocks. Yumm!



McCarty has been learning a lot in FFA and wanted to try her hand and cutting. Here she goes. She actually did a good job. You can't just cut, or the calf will bleed to death. You have to pull, then scrape your knife back and forth, back and forth. It really is touchy business. It is the part of the branding that Ace monitors the most and is concerned about the most. It has to be done just so.



Papa branding. We had to set of crews, thus two branders going at the same time. It went fairly fast.



Dad getting a turn to rope.



OK. So this was definitely the funnest part of the branding. The little boys. They were hilarious. They wanted to ride the calves, and boy o boy, did they ever ride. The men were very patient to let them ride so many.

This was so funny. After one boy would get off, the other boys would pump him up. "Way to go man, you rode that bull so good, good job man." High fives and more riding.


Abrahm, Blazen, Ike.

Abraham.



Ike Cutter Cline. Dallin was a big trooper. He put those boys on over and over and over.





Dallin tripped several times. He was keeping those boys safe, no matter what it took. He will make a great dad someday.



Blazen Trails.



The girls were all diva, even at the branding. Ralayna, and Denim.



Charlotte is throwing a little diva too.



Me and Darlin.



After all the work was done I had a hot meal and hot chocolate ready. I think the warm house and warm bellies did a great deal for everyone. We sat around the big table and joked and laughed and told stories. I was glad for all of the woman's help. You can get so much done if you all work together. We stayed up late watching funny you tube videos on the big screen, playing games, and eating.



Daddies hands-strong yet gentle.


Grandpa Calvin with Darlin Dawn.

blessing

Friday was the day that we had scheduled to brand. Some of my family came in, in the wee hours of the morning on Friday. Mom, Dad, Syringa, and McCarty. Trujillo, Charlotte, and their kids. We woke up to a wet snow. Ace, after debating awhile, decided to postpone the branding. The wet is miserable to work the calves in, but the main reason we decided not to brand is because if their hair gets wet, you won't get a good clean hot brand. Anyhow we weren't too disappointed because it gave us girls a little time to visit and Ace had all the help to sort and prepare.

Abraham gets up very early in the morning. Trujillo was up with him and decided to tease Ace a bit. He came and crawled in bed with us, "Man, Ace, this bed is soooo comfy." Pretty much the rest of my family came and crawled in too. Ace looked around at everyone in his bed, covered his head with the covers and groaned, "I knew when I married Timber it meant marrying the family, but I didn't know THIS is how far it would go."



We relaxed by the fire a lot of the day. McCarty is taking her turn with Darlin. We finally got antsy in the house and had to go outside.



Charlotte, and Nathan.



Me, and Angela. We had some good times.



We talked to Sierra on the phone, "Well, Timber, I guess you know that we are not making it down there." I said, "I, know, sis, we all miss you a ton and wish you were here though."

Friday evening we all got dressed up and went in to the Pie Town Branch to bless Darlin. This Sunday was our Stake conference, so we got permission to do Darlin's blessing on Friday with all of the family and friends. Darlin was adorable. It was a very sweet event. We asked all of the priesthood holders to come stand in the circle. There was a big circle of worthy strong men who stood in and Ace gave her a beautiful blessing. It was special to feel the strength and know that my little girl was able to have such a privilege. McCarty sang a song and Nelda and Tawana made dessert.



Ace, Darlin, Me. We look a bit tired from the work.



Darlin and Mom.



"Congratulations Darlin, I love you," says Denim.



Don and Carolyn Hobbs drove about 50 miles to come to the blessing. It was special that they came. I love them a ton. What good friends I have here.



The Willis Family came to the blessing as well. It was neat to have Dale there. John and Angela were very sweet with Darlin. It is there turn next.



Trujillo with Blazen. One is a big faker and one is real. Can you guess?



L to R. The Amy family. Syringa, Blazen, me, Darlin, Ace, McCarty, Trujillo, Mom, Dad, Charlotte, Nathan. Bottom. Denim, Abraham, Ralayna, Ike.



L to R. The McPhaul Family. Me, Darlin, Ace, Blazen, Tawana, Ike, Denim, Papa, Granny.



Marlena came too. I just love Marlena.



Carolee is the best primary leader ever. My kids just love her. She and Billy, our Branch president, came.



Today was wonderful. I felt lots of support and love for my little girl. Couldn't be happier!

work

April 26th-May 1st:

This week was filled with long hours and lots of work. We rounded up all of our cattle and branded. It was filled with lots of visitors and fun. For me it was a lot of cooking and working.

In the beginning of the week the kids went out to ride with Ace and I drove the truck and used the siren to call them in. On the way out to the pasture Curtis held Darlin for me. Denim has been very interested in Indians. She drilled Curtis, "Are there still REAL Indians Curtis?" Curtis, " Yeah, I'm a real Indian." Denim, "No, I mean the REAL ones, you know, with the feathers and stuff." Curtis, "Well we only dress like that sometime now, like at pow wow's." Denim,"Are they mean or nice, like would they be nice or mean to my sister Darlin, or would they steal her or kill us or just be nice or what?" Curtis, "They are nice, they like babies." Denim, "Oh."



Denim practicing with Smurf to see if she can turn him. She did pretty good.



Nate helping Blazen. Blazen was pumped to be on his own horse riding with dad.



Ready to rock and roll. Papa came to help too. It was good and made me relieved to have another helper for the kids. I wanted them to be a part of everything so bad, but I can't ride yet with Darlin.



A COWBOY MAP: This is how it is done. Ace gets down in the dirt and maps out where he wants each cowboy to go and where the fence lines are at.



Now we start.



Ok, so I am nursing, driving, and running the siren all at the same time. This would normally be stupid, but since I am going on 5 miles pr hour, I called it 8 hours of talent.



Taking a little Cheetos break.



Pushing from the back of the herd. It was dusty.



Nate switched horses to ride a colt. Papa is trotting it in circles to warm it up a bit. I was getting excited to watch the rodeo. Camera ready with a smile on my face thinking, "This is going to be great!"



Easy Nate, Easy. When you get on a colt, you do so very very slowly. You especially put your leg across very slowly and sit down so carefully. Papa places his horse nearly directly in front of the other horse to calm it and stop it from bucking off.



Off they ride together. Ok, so I was a tad bit disappointed not to have the rodeo, but it was a good thing that Nate didn't get hurt.



Ace needed to help with the herd, so the kids rode with me for awhile. Blazen sees the cattle coming across the mountain, "There they are, mom, I see the cows."





As we were waiting for the herd to catch up, we got out and played. Darlin enjoyed the fresh air and getting out of the truck.



In the middle of the week the Willis crew came to help. Ryan, Papa, Nate, Dale, John, Angela, Tammy, and Ace. Not pictured-Dale Sr. in the truck.



It was such a nasty windy day that I couldn't believe that anyone survived. We were very glad for the help. Angela came with me for awhile and helped with the kids. We had some very nice conversations. What a sweet girl.



Tammy, John, and Angela.



The herd following me.



We got the cattle brought in, sorted, and ready to brand. I cooked like crazy and we all worked very hard-the kids included. We had a scare with Angela on the horse. Another horse jumped on her horse and it's head hit her and nearly knocked her off. She was a trooper. All in all we had a great week and the work got done.

Blazen Trails

April 25th

Happy Birthday Blazen Trails!!!!

I can't believe my little man is 3.

Isn't he sooooooo handsome.



We had a party for Blazen. His favorite color is blue, so we decorated with a lot of blue. We also had Star Wars as a theme.



He wanted cupcakes, and of course BLUE frosting.



Blow em out buddy. He was so adorable "blowing" (spitting) out the candles.



We played pin the tail on the donkey. They thought it was so funny to put the tail in random places on purpose-like on the walls. I made a big deal out of it. "Oh my goodness, you silly goose," I would say.



We played balloon pop. The kids stand on one side of the room and I line up their balloon up across from them. "Ready, set, GO!" Then they run to their balloon and pop it. I was sneaky and helped Blazen with his every time so he would be first to pop his balloon. He thought he was a stud because he could pop his so fast.



Blazen was so excited for his presents because he has had to wait so long for his birthday. Since February he has been asking when his birthday was. He had it down pat, "My boatday is in Apwil, mom is it Apwil?"



Before Christmas Ace ordered these trucks to play in the sand. He was excited to give them to Blazen. I had totally forgot about them. Ace said, "Hey where is the gifts." He ran to the garage and got his box.



Guess who liked the gift the most?



Guess what part the kids enjoyed the most?



Yeah, we made a tremendous mess, but it was a blast!



We also had glow in the dark necklaces that we used as Star Wars swords. We had a glow in the dark dance party with music. It was fun. I think Blazen thoroughly loved his 3rd birthday.